'We know it's not a hiccup'

County's real estate sales are up, time on market is down.

July 08, 2012|By GENE STOWE | South Bend Tribune Correspondent

South Bend Tribune

The real estate recovery that started some six months ago is starting to feel real.

Traffic is high. Sales in St. Joseph County are up nearly 30 percent. The number of days on the market has dropped to 117 from 131 a year ago, and the inventory supply has dropped from more than 12 months last year to about nine months.

While the median price here has dropped about 2 percent, that figure is skewed by bottom-heavy volume, and at higher price points, inventory is so low that builders have started building spec houses again.

In the first six months of last year, the median price in St. Joseph County was $104,500, but only 2,008 sales closed; this year, the price was $103,600, but 2,388 closed. Realtors who left the business last year are returning, and new ones are taking classes.

"We know it's not a hiccup," says Sue Cox, a vice president at Cressy & Everett. "After coming out of some tough years, we all entered 2012 thinking it was going to be another year of treading water. The economists told us to look for '13 or '14 for recovery. Each month we kept saying, 'Is this really happening?'

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"I've never seen so many agents that are crazy busy. It's fun again, but it isn't fun. They're working harder than they ever worked before. They complain about how tough it is. They wouldn't need us if it was easy."

The market, once overwhelmingly favoring buyers, is in a transition that calls for careful navigation by buyers and sellers as well as agents and lenders.

"It's not just about the sale," says Cressy & Everett agent Monica Eckrich. "You start out with educating the seller for the most part on what the market conditions are and what a realistic place for them to be price-wise would be.

"There are barriers along the way that you need to be prepared for and educated about," including inspections and appraisals. "We breathe a sigh of relief when we get through each step."

Eckrich says two-thirds of her sales have been to people moving from out of town, mostly connected with the University of Notre Dame or the medical field.

Sellers inclined to list high and cut later if necessary might be better off opening with a more attractive price, Cox and Eckrich say.

In some cases, especially in the $250,000 to $350,000 range, multiple offers have raised selling prices above asking prices, and a quicker sale avoids the costs of holding on to the house.

"It isn't all about price," Cox says. "It is also about cost. If they're priced right, they're going to sell quickly. If you don't sell your house, how much is it costing you to hold on to it?"

Homeowners are learning to seize the market rather than chase it.

"Sellers are being more realistic about where the price should be for the home," Eckrich says. "Now they're pricing it properly. They're selling quicker. A lot of the listings I've had this spring have sold in a couple of weeks."

Now buyers, long used to the drumbeat of rock-bottom bargains, need an education in reality, not only in pricing but also in mortgage possibilities, where some loan rates have dipped below 3 percent.

"The buyer has to have taken that 20 minutes with a lender to make sure what they're looking at is the right kind of property for their situation," Eckrich says.